epiScope

Alive for a reason

Cancer, injuries not enough to keep woman off horses
By Kim Kimzey
Spartanburg (SC) Herald-Journal
April 19, 2008

The pillow on Christine "Cee Cee" Wilmanns' couch says it all: "Live to ride, ride to live."

Wilmanns has overcome her share of hurdles, both in and out of the horse show ring.

Years after Wilmanns, 47, was told she should get out of the saddle, she's still riding tall. Wilmanns is one of the competitors today in The Foxhunters Cup at the Block House Steeplechase in Tryon, N.C.
…
Wilmanns said she knew she was alive for a reason.

She remembers thanking God for saving her.

"I was told I should have been dead," she said.

She returned to the Episcopal Church. Today she's a member of Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Tryon.

It’s all here …

Heston rites

Charlton Heston Funeral at St. Matthew's
Michael Aushenker
Palisadian-Post (CA)
April 16, 2008

About 250 invited guests, including family members, politicians and film industry A-listers, attended the funeral service for actor Charlton Heston on Saturday at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades.

'I certainly knew him as a great gentleman of great warmth and hospitality,' said Rev. Michael Scott Seiler, who officiated at the services. Heston, 84, died April 5, after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. He and his wife, Lydia, had attended Sunday services at St. Matthew's since the early 1980s.

'The relationship between Mr. Heston and his wife made the greatest impression on me,' Seiler told the Palisadian-Post on Monday. 'Just a few days before he passed away, Lydia told me that they had just celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary. They had one of those extraordinary rare marriages. Even after all the years they were married, you could sense there was a magic between them.'

It’s all here …

In the hope of the Resurrection

Frederic Willard McFarland, 14 February 1945- 17 March 2008

Frederic Willard McFarland, 63, of Burlington, New Jersey, died on Monday, 17 March 2008, in Samaritan Hospice at Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly, New Jersey, after a courageous struggle with cancer.

Born on 14 February 1945 in Pasadena, California, Mr McFarland's early education was in public schools in the West. He received his BA and MA from the University of Denver, and was a Ford Foundation Fellow. In August 1967, he began a 40-year career with W. W. Norton and Company, the well-known New York publishing firm. He rose through the ranks to become an editor and vice-president.

Frederic McFarland is survived by his beloved wife of 27 years, Cynthia Wilson McFarland, of Burlington; by his mother, Harriett Corbin McFarland, of Phoenix, Arizona; his brother, Scott Corbin McFarland, of Santa Monica, California; a number of nieces and a nephew; and a great company of loving colleagues and friends. Samaritan Hospice provided devoted care to Frederic for the last two weeks of his life.
...
In lieu of flowers, kindly remember Frederic through a memorial gift in his name to St Mary's Hall-Doane Academy, 350 Riverbank, Burlington, New Jersey 08016, a private Episcopal preparatory school to which he and his wife were both devoted.

It’s all here … Frederic, rest in peace and rise in glory through the mercy of Jesus Christ. epiScope and all the staff at the Episcopal Church Center hold Cynthia and everyone at Anglicans Online in our prayers.

Wells remembered

'Great Debater' Wells remembered as spiritual, passionate
By JOHN PORRETTO
Associated Press
March 16, 2008

HOUSTON — Henrietta Bell Wells, the only woman on the 1930 Wiley College team that took part in the nation's first interracial collegiate debate, was remembered Sunday as a deeply spiritual person whose presence moved others to be quiet and listen.

Wells died Feb. 27 in Baytown. She was 95.

Wells was the last surviving member of the team portrayed in last year's movie, "The Great Debaters."

The movie, starring Denzel Washington, focused on Melvin Tolson's success leading an underdog debate team at a small, southern, historically black college in the mid-1930s. Founded in 1873, Wiley is in east Texas, about 40 miles from Shreveport, La.

It’s all here …

Fitting in

MBC professor to read from his novel 'Square Peg in a Round Hole'
By Mindi Westhoff/staff
Staunton (VA) News Leader

STAUNTON — To thine own self be true.

Many have heard Shakespeare's famous words, but Mary Baldwin Associate Professor of Communication Bruce Joffe believes them so fiercely, he made the sentiment the message of his new book.

The autobiographical "Square Peg in a Round Hole" chronicles Joffe's daunting and often painful journey to accepting his homosexuality, an experience Joffe believes many "baby boomer" men share.
…
Joffe will read an excerpt from his book Saturday at Emmanuel Episcopal Church where he and his partner Russell Warren are members.

It’s all here …

Former S.F. resident championed Indian, non-Indian relations

Rosenthal served on board of directors of Indian Rights Association
David Collins
The New Mexican
2/24/2008

A memorial service is planned for Saturday to commemorate the life of Elizabeth Clark Rosenthal, a former Santa Fe resident who promoted intercultural relations among American Indians and non-Indian communities.

Rosenthal, 87, died Feb. 17 in El Paso. She was born on the reservation of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, the daughter and granddaughter of Episcopalian ministers. She attended reservation schools and later earned a master's degree in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin.

She competed doctoral course work at Harvard University and was later awarded an honorary doctoral degree from the University of South Dakota.

It’s all here …

Truman's daughter returns to home

Margaret's memorial planned
By Toriano L. Porter
February 22, 2008

The only daughter of Independence's most famous couple is coming home.

Margaret Truman Daniel, daughter of Harry S. and Bess Truman, will be remembered in a special memorial service at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, 500 West U.S. Highway 24.

Daniel passed away Jan. 29 at the age of 83 in Chicago after a brief illness.

Her 84th birthday would have been Sunday.

A small, private funeral for the family will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church prior to the Truman Library memorial service.

It’s all here …

Faces of ministry

Cleric begins ministry at St. Luke Episcopal
By Rob Cullivan 
The Gresham Outlook
Jan 18, 2008

The Rev. Jennifer Creswell describes herself as shy and introverted.

So of course she decided to pursue that most public of jobs, the ordained ministry. Years ago, aware of her daughter’s religious tendencies, her mother told her she might become a priest someday.

“The reason I immediately said it was crazy idea was because I didn’t like public speaking at all,” Creswell says.

It’s all here …

Journey of faith
Lindley shares ordination with community she loves
By Jayne Boykin
The Duncan (OK) Banner
Jan 18 2008

DUNCAN — A few years ago, without even realizing it at the time, Susan Lindley stood at a crossroads in her life.

With her legal career in the U.S. attorney’s office in Oklahoma City behind her, her son a young adult and her husband looking toward retirement, the Duncan woman could have followed an easy path to her own retirement. That would not have been the right direction, however, for the Susie Lindley many Duncan residents know and love to take.

Instead, with a single step — not even aware exactly when she took it — Lindley took the road less traveled, and that has led her on a seven-year journey of discovery and personal growth.

The community will celebrate another milestone on that journey with her on Saturday when Lindley is ordained as an Episcopal priest. The Rt. Rev. Edward Konieczny, newly consecrated bishop of the Diocese of Oklahoma, will officiate at the 11 a.m. service at All Saints’ Episcopal Church.

It’s all here …

The General of Val Verde County
By Bill Sontag
Southwest Texas Live
January 18, 2008

From the small back yard of his comfortable home, high on the bluffs overlooking the Devils River, Maj. Gen. Gerry Prather (USAF, retired) enjoys the tranquility of cactus gardening, bird feeding, and people watching on boats below. His hours of serenity on the desert high above Lake Amistad are limited by Prather’s hectic, self-imposed schedule of public service.

“God has blessed me with a good personality. I smile a lot, and get along well with people.” Maj. Gen. Gerald Prather (U.S. Air Force, retired) understates the impact he’s had on those around him in his fruitful and gratifying 73 years.
…
Prather has been a member of Lions Clubs for 50 years, has served here as vice president of the Host Lions Club, and still serves as chaplain. Ordained as a lay Eucharistic minister, Prather served in that capacity with St. James Episcopal Church for three years, as senior warden of the vestry for three years, and as a trustee for five years. He was also a chaplain for the Juvenile Detention Center, 1994-2005, and continues as chaplain at Val Verde Regional Medical Center.

It’s all here …

Born to lead

A dog's life well-lived
By Rebecca Jones
Rocky Mountain News (CO)
November 19, 2007

Editor's note: Anyone who has said goodbye to a dear pet will identify with this remembrance of cherished bulldog Killarney Rose. The author was editor of the Rocky's Critters page.

Killarney Rose Jones, one of the world's most beloved and accomplished English bulldogs, passed away quietly at her home Nov. 6 after a brief illness. She was 12 1/2, a spectacularly long life for a bulldog.
...
Being an English bulldog, she was of the Anglican faith. She was the attentive practice audience for numerous sermons that her mom wrote while in seminary, and she never missed receiving her annual blessing at the St. Francis Day Blessing of the Animals at St. John's Cathedral in Denver. For the last six years, she proudly led the procession down the cathedral's grand center aisle for the animal blessing, followed by the vergers, acolytes and choir. She was at her most magnificent during these services, prompting observers to comment that she clearly was born to lead parades. She certainly loved being the center of attention.

It's all here ...

See a need, meet a need

A GUIDE FOR MARINERS
Area's port chaplains tend to diverse, far-flung flock
BY JOE MALINCONICO
Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger
September 06, 2007

The Rev. Marjorie Lindstrom didn't know what she would encounter last week as she climbed the steep gangway of the President Adams, an enormous cargo ship docked in the Arthur Kill.

Lindstrom hadn't called in advance. She rarely does. When ships arrive at the Port of New York and New Jersey, Lindstrom shows up to pay a visit. Aboard the ships are mariners from all over the world, mostly men, who have been at sea for months.

Lindstrom -- a chaplain at the Seamen's Church Institute in Newark -- comes prepared for just about anything. And that's what she finds.

It’s all here …

Bringing love to the Home of Love and Hope
By Ian B. Murphy
GateHouse News Service
Sep 06, 2007

For the last two years, The Church of Our Redeemer Episcopal church in Lexington has sent 15 volunteers to Honduras to work at a school named El Hogar de Amor y Esperanza, or the Home of Love and Hope.

The school takes in destitute or orphaned boys and girls in the capital city of Tegucigalpa and provides them with shoes, clothes, three meals a day, and an education. Once the boys get older, they go to a technical school or an agricultural school to learn a trade. Other boys can go to the three-year trade schools as well, but there is a long waiting list, and they must first pass some requirements.

“You have to display poverty and a willingness to work in order to get in,” said Jessica Maeck, a Lexington resident that has volunteered two years in a row. “You don’t have to be an Episcopalian.”

It’s all here …

Church offers to take tent city next
Matt Batcheldor
The Olympian (WA)
09/06/2007

OLYMPIA — Just a couple of weeks after Olympia's homeless camp moved to St. John's Episcopal Church, another church has agreed to play host to the tent city after that.

The council of the First United Methodist Church of Olympia voted Tuesday to bring Camp Quixote, as the tent city is called, to its grounds starting about Oct. 1, said Jerry Smith, a parishioner who is working to move the camp. Smith said the church's Christian beliefs compel it to take on the camp.

"There's a great deal of biblical stuff about taking care of the poor and feeding the hungry," he said. "It's pretty basic to the Christian core of beliefs about behavior."

The Methodist church, at 1224 Legion Way SE, will be the fourth congregation to host the homeless camp since it began in February. Previous hosts have included the Unitarian Universalist Congregation and United Churches of Olympia.

It’s all here …

Free health clinic in W-B to stay closed
Mid-September re-opening had previously been set for the clinic, which closed in June.
MARK E. JONES
Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times Leader

WILKES-BARRE – A free health clinic that suspended service more than two months ago will not reopen in mid-September, as previously was announced.

Instead, the struggling Interfaith Health Clinic will remain closed for “an indeterminate amount of time” and might never resume tending the area’s working poor, said Kathy Thrapp, the clinic’s coordinator.

The charitable program based at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on South Franklin Street shut its doors earlier this summer because it lacked volunteer doctors. It had been relying on physicians who participated in a Veterans Administration-run residency program. However, officials terminated that residency program at the end of June, halting a nearly 10-year partnership with the part-time clinic.

It’s all here … http://www.timesleader.com/news/20070905_05_Health_clinic_ART.html

Keep trying for free clinics
Wilkes-Barre (PA) Citizens Voice   
September 6, 2007

The closing of the Interfaith Health Clinic at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre is terrible news for its patients.

These patients are working poor people who have the hard choice of either putting food on the table or having health insurance. Obviously putting food on the table comes first.

The clinic was able to find a doctor who said he would staff the clinic. But then he learned that liability insurance would not be available for him in this situation, so he had to decline being the doctor for the clinic.

There is one other clinic in Wilkes-Barre. It is run by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and St, Nicholas Church. Perhaps this clinic can give the Interfaith Health Clinic staff some guidance of how it handles the issue of liability.

It’s all here …

Seeing a need, meeting a need
Daily Leader (MS)
September 05, 2007

Sometimes it only takes a well-placed word or a reminder of a need for the wheels of action to start turning.

The Brookhaven Fire Department and children across the community can be thankful for that happening with L. Ralph Smith. The need in this case was paying off the balance of the Firepup mascot suit the fire department uses to teach children about fire safety.
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In 2003, Smith and his wife Doris were recognized as Unsung Heroes in The DAILY LEADER's annual FOCUS edition. The report recognized the members of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer for their "see a need, meet that need" approach to helping others.

It’s all here …

Effort Gathers Supplies For Area Children
Jamestown (NY) Post-Journal
September 06, 2007

9/5/2007 - Randolph area businesses, churches and community members joined Alcoa CSI Randolph in the First Annual Backpack Brigade — an initiative to collect school supplies for families in need.

It’s all here …

Martin Habitat reaches out to local religious groups
BY AIMEE FORD FOSTER
TCPalm : Florida's Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches
September 6, 2007

STUART — Michele Reilly hopes your prayers are with her and her cause. But she isn’t just sitting around and waiting for something to happen.

Reilly is the executive director of the Habitat for Humanity of Martin County Inc. The organization has long had a relationship with religious groups in the county, but on Wednesday Reilly took a step forward at making it more formal.

Reilly and about 24 members of the local clergy met at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in the hopes that a greater relationship will bear greater fruits for Habitat for Humanity, which provides affordable housing for those in need.

It’s all here …

Back to school

As school year starts, McGreevey heads to seminary
By ANGELA DELLI SANTI
Newsday
September 1, 2007

TRENTON, N.J. - The nation's first openly gay governor is headed back to school Tuesday _ as a seminary student.

Jim McGreevey will begin full-time studies at General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in Manhattan, seminary spokesman Bruce Parker confirmed. McGreevey switched his religious affiliation from Roman Catholic to Episcopalian earlier this year and expressed interest in pursuing a call to ministry.

As a student in the non-degree program at the seminary, McGreevey has up to a year to choose a course of study. In the meantime, he can choose a broad array of courses in theology, liturgy, ministry and related topics that are available to students who are unsure of their educational and vocational goals, Parker said.

It’s all here …

Former NJ Governor's Wife Recalls Ordeal
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 1, 2007

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (AP) -- Perhaps no one knows better than Dina Matos McGreevey how Suzanne Craig -- the wife of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig -- felt as her husband insisted he is not gay despite his guilty plea in a police sex sting.

Matos McGreevey once stood shellshocked next to her ex-husband, then-New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey, as he announced before TV cameras that he was ''a gay American'' and would resign.

''I was watching his wife the other day standing next to him, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, that was me three years ago. Now here we go again,''' Matos McGreevey said in an interview at her home Friday evening. ''She's a victim of the choices he's made.''

It’s all here …

A Sting He Didn't Deserve
By Aaron Belkin
September 1, 2007

If Sen. Larry Craig is guilty of a serious crime, you'd never know it from listening to the audiotape of his arrest or from reading his arrest record.
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Craig's case apparently was handled according to the book. But the use of everyday gestures that fall short of sex to mete out punishment for sexual misconduct illustrates a revealing departure from methods that investigators used to carry out sting operations nearly a century ago. Courts used to require a lot more than the tapping of a toe to sustain a conviction for a morals crime.

In 1919 the Navy hired "decoys" to frequent the lobby of the YMCA in Newport, R.I. Orchestrated by officers at the local Naval Training Station, the cleanup campaign sought to eliminate gay men from the ranks. Following an introduction, decoys would accompany their suspects to a hotel room and then have sex. At least three dozen sailors and civilians were arrested, and many ended up in jail.

According to conventions of the day, if men confined themselves to masculine behaviors and sex roles, they could engage in sex with other men without inviting accusations of being gay. Because perversion was seen primarily as a function of effeminate mannerisms and passive sexual tastes, government decoys could have sex with gay men with impunity as long as they assumed the active position during those encounters. Or so the Navy assumed.

When the 1919 sting operation ensnared a local minister, the Episcopal Church fought back, and what had been a local operation became a national scandal that almost ended the burgeoning political career of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was then assistant secretary of the Navy.

The church persuaded the Navy and the Senate to investigate the sting operation, and when it became apparent that the military had enlisted heterosexuals to engage in sex with other men, there was a public outcry.

It’s all here …

Bishop nixes Trinity Prep play
La Cage Aux Folles, c'est fini
Leslie Postal and Dave Weber
Orlando Sentinel
September 1, 2007

The school theater production aimed to "push the limits," and it did -- way too far for its conservative Episcopal bishop.

Trinity Preparatory School canceled its opening-night performance of La Cage aux Folles on Friday at the request of Bishop John Howe, head of the Diocese of Central Florida.

"His request was not to stage the production, and we decided to honor his request," said Headmaster Craig Maughan, who called off Friday's and tonight's planned performances. "I met with the cast and all the people involved in the production and announced the decision and explained it to them."

It’s all here …

Parishes and people

Seminary student returns to preach at home church
The Fayetteville (GA) Citizen
08/28/2007

Lauren McDonald, daughter of Page and Graham McDonald, Fayetteville, and seminary student at Seabury Western in Evanston, Ill., preached in her hometown church, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Peachtree City on Aug. 19. She was honored by more than 170 friends, family, and church members at a reception held in the parish hall. Father Paul Elliott presented Lauren with a purse, a gift from the congregation.

It’s all here …

Pastor's departure clouds future of Spring Valley day-laborer program
By SUZAN CLARKE
Westchester (NY) JOURNAL NEWS
August 29, 2007

Gerson Sosa comes to the Jornaleros Project for hot soup, bread and a place to feel safe. Juan Martinez visits periodically, grateful for the food and the chance to chat indoors with friends. A new client, Eddie Mendez of Attleboro, Mass., has just moved to Spring Valley, and, short on cash, needs to find a job to support his wife and two young children.

The men - Mendez is a legal immigrant and Martinez and Sosa are undocumented - are among the many who come weekly to the Jornaleros Project, a humanitarian aid program for day laborers that is hosted at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Spring Valley.

It’s all here …

He kept food-bank shelves well-stocked
By MARY SWIFT
Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer

HE WAS A childless widower with a lot of mouths to feed.

It was a role Kirkland's Clayton Taub, an unassuming man with an intolerance for waste and a passion for helping others, took seriously.

At 87, Taub was tall, slightly built and partial to cowboy boots and baseball caps.

He was quick to smile, equally quick to pitch in to help.

Each day, he made the rounds of Kirkland-area grocery stores and other businesses, picking up day-old food and items that otherwise would have been discarded.

It’s all here …

Barrington woman's film tells the story of 'Great Day of Service'
East Bay (RI)

BARRINGTON - More than 100 people came out to the McCulloch Center for the Arts on the campus of St. Andrew's School last week for the world premiere of "Agents of Grace-Day of Service."

The 40-minute video was co-produced by Barrington resident Jan Lyle Malcolm and her cousin, Todd Clark, an Emmy award-winning filmmaker from Washington, D.C. and owner of a production company. The video is a glimpse into two separate "days of service" — one in Fresno, Calif., and the other in Barrington.

Mrs. Malcolm and a group of five women from St. John's Episcopal Church went to Fresno in 2005 to witness the city's "Day of Service." They say it was the most emotional, educational and exhausting journey of their lives.

The women witnessed first-hand how a city was able to heal the deep wounds of crime, violence and despair through the international collaboration between community networks, local police and members of the faith community.

It’s all here …

Remembering a great lady

Central Texas and beyond remembers Lady Bird Johnson
By: Associated Press
7/12/2007
…

Over at the Johnsons’ Episcopal church in Fredericksburg that they first began attending in the 1950s, parishioners also had kind words.

"Lady Bird considered herself one of us. She didn't want to be different. When she came to church, even though the Secret Service came with her, she was one of us," church member Norma Sheperd said.

It’s all here … and there’s also a link to video of News 8's Russell Wilde talking with the Johnsons’ fellow parishioners at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church.

UPDATE: Statement from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who's traveling in South America...

"We grieve the passing of a remarkable woman, who in quiet and not so quiet ways worked for reconciliation of the races and for a greater sense of responsibility in our care for the earth.  May she rest in peace and rise in glory."

Amen.

A peaceful night, a perfect end

Lady Bird Johnson, 94, Dies; Eased a Path to Power
By ENID NEMY
The New York Times
July 12, 2007

Lady Bird Johnson, the widow of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was once described by her husband as “the brains and money of this family” and whose business skills cushioned his road to the White House, died yesterday afternoon at her home in Austin, Tex. She was 94.

Mrs. Johnson was hospitalized for a week last month with a low-grade fever. She died of natural causes, surrounded by family, including her two daughters, and friends, said a family spokeswoman, Elizabeth Christian.

Mrs. Johnson was a calm and steadying influence on her often moody and volatile husband as she quietly attended to the demands imposed by his career. Liz Carpenter, her press secretary during her years in the White House, once wrote that “if President Johnson was the long arm, Lady Bird Johnson was the gentle hand.”

It’s all here …

Former first lady Lady Bird Johnson dies at 94
By CLAUDIA FELDMAN
Houston Chronicle

Lady Bird Johnson, a former first lady, a Texas legend, a woman who used the humble wildflower to teach an entire nation to treasure and preserve the environment, died Wednesday. She was 94.

In recent years, the widow of Lyndon Baines Johnson was virtually silenced by a stroke. She was nearly blinded by macular degeneration. Still, she lived her life with enthusiasm, dividing her time between the family ranch in Stonewall and an Austin home near the presidential library dedicated to her husband. She thrived on visits with friends and family and inhaled mystery books on tape.

Family spokesman Neal Spelce said Johnson's final days were good ones, surrounded by loved ones who had been holding a vigil for the past few days.

It’s all here …

Champion of Conservation, Loyal Force Behind LBJ
By Joe Holley
Washington Post
July 12, 2007

Lady Bird Johnson, 94, a first lady whose quiet ambition and determination allowed her to play an influential role in her husband's remarkable political career and to carve out an identity of her own as an advocate for beautifying the national landscape, died yesterday at her home in Austin.

Mrs. Johnson, who also was a successful businesswoman and philanthropist, had been in failing health for several years. She suffered a stroke in 1993 and was legally blind because of macular degeneration. She spent six days last month in an Austin hospital, where she was treated for a low-grade fever. "She just slipped away," family spokeswoman Elizabeth Christian said.

It’s all here …

Lady Bird Johnson dies at 94
By Howard Witt
Chicago Tribune
July 12, 2007

HOUSTON — Lady Bird Johnson, the widow of President Lyndon B. Johnson whose insistence on beautifying the nation's highways was largely responsible for the wildflowers and greenery that relieve weary motorists to this day, died Wednesday, a family spokeswoman said. She was 94.

In declining health since suffering a stroke in 2002 and recently released from a hospital stay after falling ill with a fever, Johnson died at her Texas home in Austin of natural causes, surrounded by family and friends, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Christian.

Her husband, who assumed the presidency after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, died in 1973, four years after the Johnsons left the White House.

"Her beautification programs benefited the entire nation," former First Lady Betty Ford said. "She translated her love for the land and the environment into a lifetime of achievement."

It’s all here …

Lady Bird Johnson dead at 94
Wife of LBJ set beautification tone
By Mark Feeney
Boston Globe
July 12, 2007

Lady Bird Johnson, whose warm, gracious manner and devotion to beautifying the United States made her one of the nation's most beloved public figures, died yesterday at her Austin, Texas, home. She was 94. Mrs. Johnson died of natural causes, according to a family spokeswoman.

Mrs. Johnson, the widow of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, had been in declining health since suffering a stroke in 2002. She continued to make occasional public appearances, despite difficulties speaking. In May, she attended an event at the LBJ Library featuring Robert Dallek , a biographer of her husband.

It's all here ...and a look into her early life is here. She was a member of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Milestones

Long road has led 'Lost Boy' to priesthood
By Matt Vande Bunte
The Grand Rapids Press
Saturday, June 16, 2007

EAST GRAND RAPIDS -- The stories of his past have become familiar, while a future set on course today is largely uncharted. Yet, in many respects, Zachariah Char has walked this way before.

One of "Lost Boys of Sudan," the 25-year-old is to be ordained today in an 11 a.m. ceremony, becoming just the second Sudanese priest in the U.S. Episcopal Church.

The public ordination is at Grace Episcopal Church, 1815 Hall St. SE. The Rt. Rev. Robert Gepert, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan, will officiate.

It’s all here …

Hard work, perseverance get 60-year-old her GED
Despite setbacks, her motivation to finish has finally paid off
By LAWRENCE LATANE III
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jun 15, 2007

BRUINGTON -- Barbara Braxton calls herself a people person, but recently she did something for herself for a change.

Last Friday, the 60-year-old marched down the aisle of St. John's Episcopal Church in West Point and reached for her General Educational Development diploma.

It’s all here …

Obituary: Susan J. "Sue" Boulden

'Outspoken' human rights advocate, Episcopalian
March 28, 1943 -- March 27, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
By Steve Levin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Susan J. "Sue" Boulden, who gained notoriety throughout the Episcopal Church and parts of the Anglican Communion for her outspokenness on human rights and religious issues, died Tuesday following open heart surgery at West Penn Hospital. She would have been 64 yesterday.

Ms. Boulden, of Oakmont, was a familiar figure at Episcopal gatherings, both in the Pittsburgh diocese and on the national scene. Wearing buttons boosting her favorite causes, she would corner clergy, laity and news media to ensure all were aware of not only what she believed, but why.

"She was, No. 1, outspoken," said the Rev. Harold T. Lewis, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside, where Ms. Boulden was a member. "But No. 2, she was indefatigable. She never seemed to run out of steam and always would take anybody on."

Ms. Boulden was fervent and sincere about her causes, and moved fluidly among them. Racial equality and the rights of gays and lesbians within the church were just as important to her as her anti-abortion stance. For her, life was seamless; her love of people was surpassed only by her belief in justice.

It’s all here … and may light perpetual shine upon her.

An Episcopalian--and an editor

Meridian (MS) Star names new managing editor

Executive Editor Fredie Carmichael announced this week that Steve Gillespie has been promoted to managing editor of The Meridian Star.
Gillespie, 43, joined The Star as a staff writer in April 2001. He was named assistant editor in May 2005.
“We are excited to have Steve in this important role in our newsroom,” Carmichael said. “Steve knows the community and this newspaper. His enthusiasm and positive attitude serves our newsroom well.
“As an extremely talented journalist, I’m confident he will effectively manage our news coverage — both in print and online.”

He is a member of the Episcopal Church of the Mediator and is president of the Meridian Civitan Club.

It's all here ...

Congratulations, Steve! And you've got a great diocesan communicator in Lauren Auttonberry of the Diocese of Mississippi, so bookmark this page.

Attorney in Baghdad to help prosecute war crimes

By Jason Cato

Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, February 5, 2007

A federal prosecutor from Pittsburgh who once sought justice in the case of a slaughtered undercover drug agent is in Baghdad to help win convictions against loyalists of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

James R. Wilson, an assistant U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh for 16 years, is serving a six-month stint with the Regime Crimes Liaison Office at the U.S. Embassy, helping the Iraqi High Tribunal prosecute war crimes.

And the reason we're posting on epiScope is...

Wilson is a board member of the Virginia-based Anglican Frontier Missions. He helps organize an annual golf fundraiser for the Coalition for Christian Outreach, an Oakland-based organization he became involved with in college.

It's all here...